Alfonso Piñero, the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid maintenance and management team adviser, gives us an exhaustive analysis of Javier Arana’s 18-hole layout. What is the best way to play the course? What are its secrets? We take a hole-by-hole look:
Hole 10 (par 4): The bunker at 300 yards is difficult to carry because the rough will be very tricky, therefore it is important to find the fairway. The green is very undulating and the most difficult pin is front-middle, close to the bunker. If you under-club, that bunker will pose a threat on what looks like a simple, short hole.
Hole 11 (par 3): The easy flag is short left, but if they try to get too cute and don’t reach the green, the runoff area we’ve created will feed the ball a long way down. Beware the back-middle flag, where the slopes may cause problems even on the shortest of putts.
Hole 12 (par 4): The fairway bunker is an easy carry but the holm oak in the fairway might hamper the second shot. If they miss left, they will have to deal with another oak surrounded by deep rough in the landing area. Players will have to make a decision on the tee, because strategy and execution are key, since if you nail a drive you are rewarded with a very short approach, otherwise par becomes a difficult result. The toughest flag is in the middle, where there is a small plateau.
Hole 13 (par 4): New tee, 15 yards back, similar to the one on the first, which invites you to hit a power fade. The second shot will depend on how dry the fairway is, but it will be no more than a 7 iron into an undulating green whose toughest flag is at the back and in the middle. Care needs to be taken reading the green because a lot of the contours are easy to miss.
Hole 14 (par 5): Quite a simple tee shot to a generous fairway, although the left side should be favoured, even if they carry the bunker, because if they end up in the right-hand rough it will be difficult to reach the green. The green sits diagonally to the fairway meaning that a fade is required for the approach, otherwise they may be paying a visit to one of the bunkers. Not an easy eagle opportunity, but it will offer up plenty of birdies. The most hazardous part of the green is the middle-left.
Hole 15 (par 4): Another short hole like 8, where the danger lies in the left rough. If they hit a good drive, the only problem they may face is the centre-right of the green, where there are some significant slopes.
Hole 16 (par 4): We have recuperated an old tee, 25 yards back, making the bunker a 300 yard carry. By that bunker, we’ve created an area of very aggressive rough, so the bail out area will be left, even though there is less bounce there. The second shot will be longer, anything from a 6 iron to a wedge. The green here is very narrow, and the most difficult pin position is back-left.
Hole 17 (par 3): We’ve also extended this hole by 20 yards making for an extremely demanding tee shot, because this is the smallest green on the course. They will hit between a 6 and 8 iron. The toughest pin is back-right, because the undulations in that area are very difficult to navigate.
Hole 18 (par 4): This hole poses the biggest conundrum for players, because we have let the rough grow up all along the fairway. They will have to decide whether to go for short or medium distance from the tee. The bombers might even go for it in one. The problem with front flags on this hole is that if you come up short or the ball has too much spin, it may catch the run off and finish 45-55 metres from the green.
Note: The course has been lengthened 145 yards compared to Javier Arana’s original design. The challenge has been made tougher with areas of long, thick rough, even so, Alfonso Piñero himself predicts a winning score of -20.
